Act For Me (MxM)

Misunderstanding (1)

Chapter 8: Family Time? (1)

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‘I wonder if this is how they always have dinner?’ Owen thought to himself, it wasn’t that he disliked the silence but he couldn’t help but feel the mood of the room. To him it was more than obvious that Fiona was holding back on speaking, and Philip who seems to be used to the silence wasn’t too comfortable either. ‘What’s with this insane tension?!’

The silence was grand and even the maids that were serving the table didn’t seem too comfortable with it…

‘If no one’s going to say anything, should I? No, no… I’s none of my business to butt into their family life… but I’d hate to think this is normal for them…’ Owen thought to himself. To him having a family was precious, and spending time with his own was something he never had the opportunity to do. So sitting in a silent room like this with three people that call themselves a family, made him feel like he needed to change something.

“The food’s really delicious.” Owen said with a smile on his face, he’d already finished half his dish, which wasn’t much to him since he’d always been a big eater.

Both Fiona and Carla turned to the man in near shock after hearing him say that. The surprising part wasn’t what was being said as much as the fact that anything was being said at that dead silent room.

“I see so you enjoyed it, I’ll make sure the cook remembers to make it again next time you come over.” Carla said with a welcoming look on her face, one of the maids nodded as if she understood her order and headed back into the kitchen to inform the chief.

“You know… A family meal tastes best when everyone at the table is having fun. At least that’s what my mother used to say.” Owen said as he looked at Carla who obviously hadn’t expected that.

“That sounds interesting…” Carla remarked but she didn’t seem to be too sure what to say next.

“Fiona… You mentioned starting a new painting soon, could you tell us what’s it about?” Owen turned his attention to the girl.

“N-no I’d rather not.” Fiona instantly refused, she wasn’t used to speaking on the dinner table, nor did she want to speak about her work.

“Then…” Owen noticed that and changed the topic. “How were your days? You must have had something happen today?” This time the question was directed at everyone at the table.

“Well… I was in a meeting as usual… Turns out the Williams company’s changed ownership again…” Carla said in a calm collected voice as she then continued her meal.

“I… see… and how about you?” Owen turned his attention back to Fiona who seemed a bit surprised again. ‘Come on… someone please say something, anything at this point…’ He thought to himself as if he was praying to an entity with power greater than his own.

“You were there with us the entire day. What use is it asking us what we did?” Philip stepped in to speak, he somewhat glanced at the other man’s direction without making it too obvious but he had a hint of a smile on his face.

“Oh, right, I was there…” Owen said as he laughed awkwardly at himself, the tension in the room no longer being as high as before but it was still rather confusing.

His attempts at getting a conversation flowing were futile. Owen simply focused on his dinner for the rest of the night but unknowingly to him he had in fact left a pretty strong impression on the three family members he was at the table with…

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Later that evening Owen was about to leave when Carla stopped him and offered him to stay over. Knowing it would be rude to refuse a request he accepted, that’s how he ended up sleeping in the guest room of the huge mansion…

‘Well… things really did end up weirdly… but I need to stay focused since we’re going to the art exhibition tommorow…’ Owen thought to himself as he laid in bed, he was scrolling through his phone looking up various artists so he could memories their names and maybe even a story or two so he’d sound impressive the next day. Furthermore he read through thousands of critic’s opinions on certain peaces so he’d already have a certain amount of knowledge about them. He wasn’t too great at memorizing things but he was a hard worker and he always had the habit of cramming a day before a test while in high school, so he was certain he’d have at least something left in his brain.

Then he heard a knock at the door. He wasn’t expecting anyone to come over to his room, but he opened none the less. On the other side was Fiona looking a bit saddened.

“Hey… is something the matter?” Owen asked as he looked at the fifteen year old girl standing at his doorway. ‘Hopefully she’s not here to try and ruin my cover again…’ He thought to himself.

“I… can I enter?” Fiona asked her voice sounding a bit more shy than before as if she had a lot hanging on her mind at that moment.

“Uh…” Owen paused for a moment. ‘What was she? Like fifteen or sixteen? I shouldn’t be letting her in the room cause if someone comes they’ll get the wrong impression… then yet this is her house… is she going to be mad if I refused?’ While he used some of the left over brain cells he had that day he spoke up. “Isn’t it better if we speak here? It’s late and I’m really tired…”

“It will be just for a moment… can I walk in?” Fiona asked again, it was obvious she wasn’t going to give up after the first attempt but that was exactly what made the situation more awkward for the other person.

‘Alright… I know I’m not God’s favorite… but you can’t f**k me over by making someone come up here thinking I’m doing this s**t, right?’ He thought to himself as he welcomed the girl inside.

She sat on the bed and Owen sat on a chair further away from the girl, the distance between them was about two meters.

“Why are you standing so far away?” Fiona asked as she tilted her head to the side in confusion…